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Damn, now they have to go 12-0 to finish with 100 wins . Giancarlo Stanton homered in the 2nd, and Christian Yelich added a ground rule double in the 3rd. New dad Danny Espinosa who's wife Sara had the couple's first kid, a son named Ty on Thursday night had a 3 run homer in the 5th to put the Nats ahead. Derek Dietrich doubled in the 6th to tie the game, and he scored on an Ichiro fielders choice ground out. They got burned by bad situational hitting again 1-6 with RISP. They got the first 2 guys on base in the 7th down 1 and after an Espinosa sacrifice moved them over to 2nd & 3rd, the Marlins got out of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts of Drew & Robinson. Ramos doubled to lead off the 9th, but Taylor, pinch running was thrown out at 3rd on a groundout to 2nd (great play by Gordon) and Harper & Murphy pinch hitting went meekly to end the game. Wei-Yin Chen allowed 3 runs on 4 hits (1 homer) in 4.1 with 0 walks and 3 strikeouts. Brian Ellington (3-2) allowed 1 hit in a scoreless inning of relief to pick up the win, Fernando Rodney (6th hold), and Klye Barraclough (28th hold) allowed 2 hits with 3 strikeouts in 2 innings while A.J. Ramos (38th save) allowed 1 hit in a scoreless 9th. Cole lasted 4 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits (1 homer) with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. Latos (1-1) allowed 2 runs on 2 hits in 1.1 with 1 walk and 1 strikeout, and Treinen (2nd blown save) allowed 1 hit and 1 strikeout in 2/3 of an inning.

Game 2 of the penultimate series goes Tuesday with a great pitching matchup: Jose Fernandez (15-8, 2.99) for the Marlins, Tanner Roark (15-8, 2.75) for the Nats. Grab the popcorn to plop down on the couch at 7:10.

Gincarlo Stanton home run in the 6th. And really outside of that didn't miss much. Other than the home run there were only 6 other hits in the game and Jose Fernandez retired 21 straight batters at 1 point from the first to the 8th. Fernandez (16-8) pitched 8 scoreless innings allowing only 3 hits, 0 walks and had 12 strikeouts and David Phelps (4th save) allowed 1 hit with 1 strike out pitching a scoreless 9th. Roark (15-9) allowed 1 run on 3 hits (Stanton home run) with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts in 7 innings.

Final game of the season at Marlins Park (barring a Marlins come back to make the Wildcard and than beating the Cubs) goes on Wednesday. Max Scherzer (17-7, 2.78) while Tom Koehler (9-11, 3.96) starts for the Marlins. Game time at 7:10.

Nats got on the board first due to a double error. With Espi on 2nd Marlins pitcher Tom Koehler attempted to pick him off and threw the ball into CF for 1 error which allowed Espi to advance to 3rd, and then the 2nd error and the run came about when Christian Yelich bobbled the ball in CF. Zimmerman 3 run homer in the 4th, Werth single in the 5th and a Turner solo shot in the 7th would put them up 6-0 after 7. Yelich and Derek Dietrich each added home runs in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to 3, but a Ramos double and Espi sac fly in the 8th would salt the game away. Scherzer (18-7) allowed 3 runs on 4 hits (2 homers) with 2 walks and 8 strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Treinen (20th hold) got the final out of the 7th. Koehler (9-12) allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on only 2 hits (1 home run) with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts.

Nats take their final off day of the 2016 regular season on Thursday before playing their final 10 games in a row starting on Friday in Pittsburgh where they'll look to wrap up the NL East. Gio Gonzalez (11-10, 4.48) starts for the Pirates and he'll be opposed by Jameson Taillon (4-4, 3.39) of the Pirates. Game time at 7:05. Marlins open up a 4 game series at home against the Marlins starting on Thursday night.

Zim double in the 2nd made it 1-0, and later in the inning Espi added a 2 run homer to make it 3-0. Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon added a single in the 2nd and Adam Frazier followed with a single to make it a 3-2 game in 2nd and in the 3rd Jung Ho Kong made it 3 all with a single. In the 6th Ramps homered and Werth drew a bases loaded walk to put them up 5-3. A Frazier sac fly in the 6th made it a 5-4 game, Melancon blew his first save with the Nats by allowing Sean Rodriguez's RBI double in the 9th, and Jacob Stallings, son of former Vanderbilt and current Pittsburgh Panthers head basketball coach Kevin Stallings, had his first career walk off hit in the 11th. Gio allowed 3 runs on 5 hits with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts in 5 innings. Scrabble (4th hold), Treinen (21st hold), Ollie (14th hold) and Kelley (11th hold) combined to pitch 3 innings allowing 1 hit with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. Melancon (1st blown save [4th overall]) allowed 1 run on 2 hits with 0 walks and 1 strikeout while Petit (3-5) took the loss allowing 1 run on 2 hits with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Taillon allowed 3 runs on 6 hits (1 homer) with 0 walks and 7 strikeouts in 5 innings. Wade LeBlanc (1-0) picked up the win pitching a hitless 11th inning of relief with 1 walk and 1 strikeout.

Game 2 of the series goes Saturday night. Ivan Nova (12-7, 4.19) starts for the Pirates while Joe Ross (7-5, 3.48) starts for the Nats. Game time at 7:05.

Harper sac fly and a Drew 2 run single put them in front 3-0 in the first and well on their way to dropping the magic number to the division for 1. Josh Bell homered in the 3rd for the Pirates only run of the game. Nats scored the final 3 runs in the 4th hitting 1 ball out of the infield as the 4th inning defense for the Pirates will be going on the blooper reels as they committed 3 errors in a 4 batter span to blow the game open for the Nats and a magic number for the Nats to clinch the division to 1. After Espi started the inning with a bunt single, Brian Goodwin pinch hitting for Sean Burnett (who got the last out of the 3rd) layed down another bunt single, and in one of the strangest plays I had ever seen at a baseball game, Francisco Cervelli threw the ball halfway between first and second base for the first of 3 errors in the inning, which allowed Espi to scamper to 3rd. What looked to happen is no one covered first on the bunt, but he had already started to throw when he realized no one was there so he chucked it to the second base position on the field. After Turner struck out, Werth would ground out to short, and Sean Rodriguez would throw home to cut down Espi at the plate, even though that was going to be a bang-bang play and he had a clear out at first, but the throw got past Cervelli for error #2. Error #3 occurred on another fielders choice where Adam Frazier's flip to second on a Harper grounder was high and took Rodriguez off the bag. There would be a wild pitch later on in the game to move Werth to 3rd, and he'd score on a Rendon sac fly to center, the first ball the Nats actually hit to the OF. That would conclude the scoring for the evening. Nova (5-2 [12-8 overall]) allowed 6 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits in 4 innings with 0 walks and 2 strikeouts. Ross allowed 1 run on 5 hits in 2.2 (1 homer) with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. Lopez (4-3) allowed 3 hits in a scoreless 5.1 innings of work with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. Then they would head into the clubhouse to see if the Phillies could hold onto the lead, knock the magic number to 0, and give the Nats a 10-0 lead. Despite holding a 10-0 lead at 1 point, with Mets manager Terry Collins removing many of his regulars once the score reached 10-0, the Mets fought back, had the tying run at the plate in the 8th down 10-7, but the Phils got out of the inning. Much maligned Jay Bruce would hit a 1 out homer in the 9th to make it 10-8, and after walking the next 2 batters to bring up the winning run, Phils reliever Mariot would get Lucas Duda to pop up and Travis d'Arnaud to ground out to the pitcher. And with that, the Washington Nationals were the 2016 NL East Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .

The final game of the series, the season series, and the final road game of the regular season takes place Sunday. A.J. Cole (1-2, 4.68) starts for the Nats in who should be playing the Syracuse Chiefs lineup this game. Tyler Glasnow (0-1, 4.11) starts for the Pirates. Game time at 1:35.

Obviously the win pales in comparison to the news that broke this morning that Marlins ace, and one of the best young pitchers in the game today Jose Fernandez has passed away. What turned out to be his final start, last Tuesday against the Nationals may have been the best game he ever pitched. 24 is way to young to go out, but he went out at the top of his game. I loved his energy and that he was always smiling, and even when he was shutting down the Nationals, I loved watching him pitch because I knew I was watching a future star and a future hall of fame pitcher that I'll never get to see pitch again. RIP Jose and thoughts and prayers with his friends, family, and the Marlins organization.

In the first Harper ground out made it 1-0, Rendon double made it 2-0, and Espi reaching on an error made it 3-0. Pirates tied it up in the bottom half with a Jung Ho Kong single making it 3-1, a Sean Rodriguez sac fly made it 3-2, and Jordy Mercer foul out to the catcher made it 3-3. Rendon infield single made it 4-3 in the 4th, Pedro Florimon tied it in the bottom half with a sac fly and David Freeze gave the Pirates the lead with a single. Goodwin single in the 5th made it a 5-5 game, and Kong made it a 7-5 Pirates lead with a 2 run homer in the 7th. Werth home run tied it in the 8th, Heisey & Robinson singles made it a 9-7 Washington lead, and Pedro Severino drew a bases loaded walk to bring in the final run. In the 3 game series none of the 6 pitchers that started pitched into the 6th inning. I'd like to know the last time a series of at least 3 games had all games end with the starting pitchers lasting 5 innings or less?? I figured it's probably been a while. Cole lasted 2.2 allowing 3 runs on 1 hit with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts before getting ejected for throwing behind Rodriguez. Kelley (3-2) got the win pitching 1 hitless inning with 2 strikeouts while Melancon (13th save [43rd overall]) pitched a 1-2-3 9th with 1 strikeout. Tyler Glasnow allowed 4 runs (3 earned) with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts in 3 innings. Ex Nat Felipe Rivero (1-5 [3rd blown save]) allowed 5 runs on 4 hits (1 home run) with 1 walk and 0 strikeouts in 1/3 of an inning for the loss. Nats head home for their final 7 games starting with 4 against the Diamondbacks which starts Monday. Tanner Roark (15-9, 2.70) starts for Washington and he'll be opposed by D'backs starter Archie Bradley (7-9, 5.02), game time at 7:05 PM. Pirates stay at home and play 4 games with the NL best Cubs starting Monday evening.

At this rate I'd just prefer Dusty play the Syracuse Chiefs for the final 6 games. If somebody gets hurt, they'll have a minimal impact, at best, in the playoffs. They were already without Murphy & Strasburg, Harper got injured sliding into 3rd yesterday on the deke play, and now today Ramos got hurt on what looked to be a serious knee injury. Of course I said the same thing about Strasburg's elbow earlier this month and it didn't turn out to be that serious, but from coaching basketball I know serious knee injuries from non serious knee injuries and when you crumple to the field and need assistance from the trainer walking off the field yah that's bad. Goodwin tripled in the 2nd to put the Nats up 1-0, but was short lived as the D'Backs would take the lead with a 5 run 4th. Jean Segura lead off the inning with a home run to tie the game, Brandon Drury single put them in front for good, and a Yasmany Tomas homer finished the scoring for the inning adding the final 3 runs of the inning. In the bottom half Goodwin drew a bases loaded walk and Turner had a 2 run double to make it 5-4. The D'Backs would add 5 more runs in the 6th to blow it open. Tomas double lead to 2 runs and aforementioned Ramos injury, Chris Owings single scored 1, and Mitch Haniger would add a 2 run homer. The D'Backs would make it a laugher with back to back home runs in the 8th: first a 2 run shot by Segura, his second of the night, and Jake Lamb would follow that with one of his own, and Owings finished the scoring in the 9th with an RBI groundout. Roark (15-10) allowed 5 runs on 4 hits (2 home runs) with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts in 4 innings. Archie Bradley allowed 4 runs on 6 hits with 4 walks and 5 strikeouts in 3.2 while Zack Godley (5-4) would pick up the win in relief pitching 3 scoreless innings with 1 hit, 0 walks and 3 strikeouts.

Game 2 of the 4 game series takes place on Tuesday evening. Matt Koch (1-1, 1.29) will make his first career start filling in for the injured Zack Greinke who is likely out for the season with a shoulder injury, while Max Scherzer (18-7, 2.82) starts for the Nats. Game time 7:05.

Why is he playing the regulars? I mean, I know they need some ABs, but not 4 a game all week.

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